Posted by Racer on February 2, 2005, at 11:12:07
In reply to Re: bad body image, posted by photogirlla on January 31, 2005, at 13:41:10
> Any suggestions for something that does the same as Paxil but does NOT make you gain weight?
You know, I can't really recommend anything that does the same thing Paxil does without weight gain, because everyone responds differently. If you go to to this page -- http://sl.schofield3.home.att.net/medicine/psychiatric_drugs_chart.html -- you can check out the effects of various drugs. That would give you a starting point, to talk to your doctor about. (By the way, you *have* spoken to your doctor, haven't you?)The other thing to remember is that Paxil can be sedating, and most of the more weight neutral meds tend to be a bit activating. You would likely be making a trade off there, so it you tend towards an anxious depression, you might be what my mother calls S.O.L. Bad news, huh?
> I'm 5'10 and like to weigh 150-- because I am muscular, that makes me pretty thin, size 6-- but have gained 15 from the Paxil which sucks and does not look nice. Is mostly around stomach, UGH. The models I work with are 110 lbs-- but I do realize that is age, genetics, bone structure and LUCK.
> cheersActually, as someone who is -- or rather used to be -- 5'9", and was somewhat less than 100 pounds at my sickest, I'll tell you that it's not luck, age, genetics, or bone structure for a lot of those models. It's just plain eating disorder. Truly. They won't tell you that, and may not know it themselves. But trust me -- that's an eating disordered weight.
When I was in college, I was a photographer's model. At 5'9" -- before my AN related bone loss started the shrinking process -- I weighed between 115 and 120 through those years. I got fired a lot because I don't show up on film the way anyone expects, which disappointed a lot of photographers. The one photographer who learned to shoot me extraordinarily well used to yell at me a lot for being "fat" at those weights. While I was already anorexic before I started working with her, her pressure to be unrealistically thin certainly confirmed my distorted view of myself. A lot of those models probably have some pretty deep psychopathologies built up around their appearance, and use a kind of arrogance to keep people away from them.
As for you, beyond finding a less weight inducing drug, how about working on the body image itself? Even if you don't have an eating disorder, the fact that you're apologizing for a healthy weight makes me think that you're putting a lot of value onto your appearance. Yeah, well, I do it too. But there are things you can do about it, and they may very well help you.
How old are you, may I ask? I'm middle aged, and still anorexic, so there's no criticism implied.
I haven't read it, but there's another book by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, who wrote "Fasting Girls". It's called "The Body Project : An Intimate History of American Girls" and it might be helpful to you. It's on my long list of books to read, although who knows when I'll get to it, since I've got a dozen other things in front of it.
Good luck to you, whatever you decide.
poster:Racer
thread:449789
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20041128/msgs/451696.html